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BARNHOUSE LIVING

In 2010 when my husband and I first got engaged, we started our plan on our future and where we were going to set up home. We looked at remodeling the old house on the farm that served as a bachelor pad but it was too far gone to salvage. We looked at houses for sale but decided for the same asking price as many of the homes, we could build something to accommodate our lifestyle within the original homestead.

We started brainstorming ideas and looking at floor plan books. I wasn't very excited about most of the plans we found. I knew I would have to end up drawing the floor plan from scratch. I am not quite sure how we finally decided on a pole barn house but we knew my husband would need a farm shop down the road as well. One day, I just started sketching, tweaking and sketching some more. We finally came up with a plan we were excited about. We found a unique contractor that would work with me and all the custom detail I wanted.

Once we decided on a plan, we had to pick where to put the house. A lot of the farm we purchased was overgrown and the buildings were not in the greatest, usable shape. We knew we had a lot of work ahead of us. We decided to knock an old corn crib/garage down and put our house there since it was on the middle of the property and we could use the existing driveway The original farmhouse was too close to the road and it sat on the spring so we didn't want to use that spot. We also had to knock down a root cellar and tear out a lot of shrubby trees that enclosed the old house to open up the property.

After saying goodbye to some of the above original pieces of the farm, we broke ground in August 2011 and we were moved the new house July of 2012. The new house has been everything I could ever dream of and more. Having the shop attached is like having a glorified garage. My husband works on all of his farm equipment in a nice, well lit environment and I can bring dinner right out to him. It is definitely a step up and beyond from where we started out. We really value and appreciate our new home.

Our "living quarters" is a 60x24 two story plan. We have a large open concept downstairs which allows you to walk in the front door and see out the other side, marrying all the colors and woodwork together. Upstairs, you approach into a landing room that branches out to our master bedroom/bathroom, spare bathroom and two spare bedrooms. Out in the shop my husband and I have we have two rooms. One is used as the farm office and the other is for crafts and gym equipment.

Despite the memory of learning how to cook in the old house, the new kitchen is a dream. We have 10 times the amount of space and storage and the stove is actually next to the countertop now instead of being on it's own wall. Oh, and I no longer have to do laundry in the kitchen!

We wanted the inside to have some barn and log house aspects but we also wanted to incorporate some farm house details as well. We blended it all together and came up with what I think is a very unique customized interior. We have a mix of knotty pine and drywall, a log stair case and other beautiful rustic details. I am excited with how it turned out. I'm a fan of darker, earthy tones and I turned away from what everybody else is doing. The darker colors are cozy, but they make a room awfully hard to photograph. The knotty pine woodwork somewhat balances out my darker color choices.

I really wanted our half bathroom off our kitchen to be unique. I wanted it to be a fun room where guests would walk in and be pleasantly surprised. I knew we couldn't do the entire house this way because that would be too much "barn" but I definitely wanted to dedicate one room to my love for old barns. Some say this bathroom reminds them more of an outhouse but that's okay! Outhouse/old barn; either way, I achieved the look I was going for! For more on our half bath and a tour, visit this post.

If you are thinking of building a pole barn house, please don't hesitate to ask me any questions you may have! Now that we have it, I don't think I'd want to have it any other way. It was once my husband's dream and it now it is mine as well. I am so happy we both get to live our dreams together .